The present invention relates to bagging of compressed material, and particularly to apparatus for bagging compressed bricks of tobacco in a fully automated manner.
It is often necessary to provide a means for storing or transporting tobacco. It is generally known by those skilled in the art that for these purposes, cut tobacco may be compressed into a "brick" and then placed into a puncture-resistent plastic bag. In order to form the brick, the desired amount of tobacco may be placed into a compressor, where a ram condenses the tobacco into a brick which is a fraction of the original volume of tobacco placed into the compressor. The brick is pushed out of the compressor directly into a bag.
The known methods for inserting compressed bricks of tobacco into bags which are in use at present are often unsatisfactory. These methods are often slow and may also be inaccurate. For example, one such method requires an operator to place a bag by hand over the exit chute of the compressor, and once the bag is filled, remove it from the chute then fold and seal it by hand. Thus, the bagging process is slow and is dependent upon the speed of the operator. Seam consistency may also suffer.
Another method for bagging which is in use involves apparatus which raises the bag over the mouth of the exit chute of the compressor by vacuum suction. This method is often inaccurate as the locations on the bags at which the bags are be picked up by the vacuum suction may be inconsistent. Interference with the vacuum will also result in inaccurate placement of the bag or even in the bag being dropped.
Accordingly, a means is required for rapidly and accurately securing bricks of compressed tobacco in bags. A means for automatically bagging compressed bricks of tobacco is also required.